COCHRANE— On March 9, the Alberta Students Athletic Association announced student track and field provincials would not be possible this year, given that no interschool competitions can be held due to COVID-19.
Track and field coach at St. Timothy High School Travis Cummings said the decision was not unexpected.
“It wasn’t unexpected that sports got cancelled. I would have been shocked if high school sports went in the spring,” Cummings said. “I would be shocked if school sports came back before the majority of the population was vaccinated with both doses [of the COVID-19 vaccine].”
Cummings is in a unique position, as he is the track and field coach and a science teacher at St. Timothy School, the head coach and founder of the Cochrane Endurance Project and the chair of the Calgary Senior High School Athletic Association.
From his perspective, he can clearly see both sides of the coin.
Cummings said school boards are typically risk-averse, and as long as there is risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus, sports will be off the table.
“If there’s any chance of an outbreak among interscholastic sports where schools are interacting then there won't be school sports until we have herd immunity,” he said. “I would love it if we had cross country in the fall, but I’m not expecting it.”
He added he does not expect to see school sports come back until January 2022, but even the spring season of next year is up in the air right now.
“I’ve already had conversations with people in the ASAA about having cross country in spring 2022, that’s been something that’s been on the table. And then cross country will happen before track 2022. They’ll kind of happen together,” he said. “We’re just considering all scenarios.”
What it comes down to, Cummings said, is what is necessary for schools to continue operating. While sports are an important part of the high school experience, they are not necessarily required to keep the school in operation, which is more important in the bigger picture.
“We don’t necessarily need sport to run schools. Those will be the last things to come back— The extracurricular programs that the students need, but they’re not necessarily required,” he said. “The key thing is to keep schools open. It’s more important to have schools open than it is to have school sports. When you think about the triage of needs, having schools open and having schools be safe places … It’s more important.”
For cross country athletes, however, there is an alternative to school-based athletics in the Cochrane Endurance Project, Cummings’ endurance running club, that operates separately from any school program, and includes athletes of all ages, from minors to Masters.
Cummings said Athletics Alberta, the governing body for track and field athletics in the province, alongside athletic councils from Calgary and Edmonton, have been working behind the scenes to determine whether or not competitions could proceed this year.
The announcement from the Alberta government that the province would not be moving into Stage 3 of the reopening plan has delayed those plans, Cummings said.
“They were slated to be approved, but I think all of that’s up in the air right now with Stage 3 being delayed,” Cummings said. “They have good protocols and all that stuff. There are a few things that need to be sorted out for the distance events with track. They’ve got a plan that will work, I mean, it worked for cross country in the fall.”
He said he expected the delays and has been making some plans on his own regarding how to proceed with the Cochrane Endurance Project to give the athletes enrolled in the program a chance to experience some competition, even if it is just interclub competition.
“I’ve already planned for there not to be track and field events,” he said. “I’m not the only one, a lot of clubs have backup plans. The backup plan is to do a time trial series.”
He said the club will have its first-time trial on April 17.
“If we have to if there are no meets, we’ll do some intersquad stuff throughout the track season,” he said. “They totally missed track last season, and we can’t go another season without competition. Intersquad stuff is better than nothing.”
Cummings has been impressed by the resilience of the youths and has seen consistent attendance at practices.
The club is strictly following the public health guidelines laid out by Alberta Health Services.
Currently, outdoor meetings can have 10 people in attendance, included coaches, and all in attendance must wear masks and be socially distanced when they are idle, getting instructions or not performing physical activities.
“At least we’re able to work out. Track is pretty low maintenance— We don’t need a ton of equipment and we can workout outside. We’ve had a good winter and we’ve had a nice spring, so we’ve been able to get a lot of work done,” he said.
To find out more about the Cochrane Endurance Project visit them on Facebook.
